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Midpoint formula

Walk through writing a general formula for the midpoint between two points.
The midpoint of the points (x1,y1) and (x2,y2) is given by the following formula:
(x1+x22,y1+y22)
In this article, we're going to derive this formula!

Deriving the midpoint formula

Let's start by plotting the points (x1,y1) and (x2,y2).
The first quadrant of a coordinate plane with two tick marks on the x axis labeled x one and x two. There are two tick marks on the y axis labeled y one and y two. There is a point at x one, y one and another point at x two, y two.
The midpoint is the point halfway between each of the points:
The first quadrant of a coordinate plane with two tick marks on the x axis labeled x one and x two. There are two tick marks on the y axis labeled y one and y two. There is a point at x one, y one and another point at x two, y two. A point is directly between both points with unknown coordinates.
An expression for the x-coordinate of the midpoint is x1+x22:
The first quadrant of a coordinate plane with two tick marks on the x axis labeled x one and x two. There are two tick marks on the y axis labeled y one and y two. There is a point at x one, y one and another point at x two, y two. A point is directly between both points with an x value of x one plus x two all divided by two. Its y coordinate is unknown.
Similarly, an expression for the y-coordinate of the midpoint is y1+y22:
The first quadrant of a coordinate plane with two tick marks on the x axis labeled x one and x two. A tick mark between them is labeled x one plus x two all divided by two. There are two tick marks on the y axis labeled y one and y two. A tick mark between them is labeled y one plus y two all divided by two. There is a point at x one, y one and another point at x two, y two. A point is directly between both points with an x value of x one plus x two all divided by two. Its y coordinate is y one plus y two all divided by two.
That's it! We derived the following formula for the midpoint!
(x1+x22,y1+y22)
Interestingly, a lot of people don't memorize this exact formula. Instead, they remember that to find the midpoint, you take the average of the x-coordinates and the average of the y-coordinates.

Practice problem

Point A is at (6,8) and point B is at (6,7).
What is the midpoint of line segment AB?
An x- y- coordinate plane where the x and y tick marks scale by one. A line segment A B has endpoint A at negative six, eight and endpoint B is at six, negative seven.
(
  • Your answer should be
  • an integer, like 6
  • a simplified proper fraction, like 3/5
  • a simplified improper fraction, like 7/4
  • a mixed number, like 1 3/4
  • an exact decimal, like 0.75
  • a multiple of pi, like 12 pi or 2/3 pi
,
  • Your answer should be
  • an integer, like 6
  • a simplified proper fraction, like 3/5
  • a simplified improper fraction, like 7/4
  • a mixed number, like 1 3/4
  • an exact decimal, like 0.75
  • a multiple of pi, like 12 pi or 2/3 pi
)

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